Something a little different and unexpected, consistently making this album an interesting listen – kyro!! gets creative and culturally uninhibited, for a quick trip to japan.
Beginning with the immediate emotion of a genre-fusing Goodbye, we’re instantly welcomed into a reflective realm of longing and heartbreak. Classic four-to-the-floor rhythms of live bass and drums meet with world-music flavours of fullness and a contemporary emo vocal mix, to ultimately feel both relevant and impossible to pigeonhole.
If reminiscent of anything, it’s the experimental and soulful songwriting from the likes of Joji, but even this comparison falls away as the rest of the album pours into view.
Heartfelt tendencies continue to play a role, the clarity and warmth of baby whyd you run away bringing a new take on the same reflective depth. Here we see rap and melody intertwine, with a more crisp production-style reaching towards the modern scene with intent – and still that artistic freedom connects during the final moments.
The project continues to set the mood in this way, promising catchy hooks as much so as those essential late-night ambient vibes that allow the mind to wander and the body to calm. Nightcrawler is an easy highlight for its fine balancing of precisely these qualities – an ear-worm with a sense of mystery and stylistic relevance to match.
For Japan, we return to the chord-led journey of our opener, and that unpredictable twist of creativity and genre-fusion. Softness of voice and keys blend to really draw you in, with the added appeal of new layers of sax and further details to reinforce the honesty and vulnerability of the writing. Another defiant highlight, unafraid to march to the beat of its own emotive drum.
Other highlights include the brilliantly unique yet melodically captivating she says shes my best friend, and the subsequent guitar-led bliss and intimacy of was I dreaming?. kyro!! also manages to consistently contrast these mellow emotive outpourings with high-energy anthems that naturally get you feeling good. As such, fade pt. 2 and cinderella! hit with brilliant impact in light of what came before.
The paired vocal harmonies of NOTHING IS ENOUGH FOR YOU work perfectly in highlighting the songwriting strength and creative freedom of kyro!! – qualities that really can’t be underestimated throughout this increasingly impressive, enjoyable and deeply-human album.
xena follows on naturally, with butterfly effect extending that vocal longing and heartache one more time, before the final experimental tones and gripping story of a poetic and powerful holocene appear to combine alt-folk intricacies with dissonant organic musicianship and modern ambient design.
An unexpectedly unorthodox song, holocene cleverly balances soulful intentions and purpose with industrial details and fragmented, even warped ideas and layers. Another somewhat fearless yet effective offering, and a great way to wrap up this more than worthy project. Something like music and artistic expression straight from the depths of a dream.
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